Ari had heard every word they said. Her excitement helped her win the game. As a reward, Mick had bought the necklace. Overall, it was a nice day, and she considered one of her favorites.
But now, she was sitting on top of a trailer, the warm atmosphere of the pizza parlor gone, and the joy that came out of the people she was with, and the things she did that day. Now she was cold. It hurt her leg to brush against anything, as her cut was still fresh. She peaked over at it, her leg hanging over the edge, kicking back and forth. She looked back over the sea of trailers. Not one light was on inside, nor a living soul outside. Ari could almost assume she was the only one alive. Here she was alone, chilled to the bone, cut, bruised, dirty and tired. But she was awake. And awake meant alive. And that's all she wanted to do.
"I like being alive." She said to herself.
"It's a hella' lot better than being dead." The voice cut through the still air like a knife in a terror movie. And terrified Ari was at the sudden sound. She jumped and spun around.
A small wind whipped her hair around, blowing this way and that. And as soon as it had started, it stopped. And it seemed as if it had taken Ari's breath away with it. There, across from her, standing on top of the trailer, was the man who had jumped her yesterday. Now, he looked rather thin and pale. He only wore a shirt, flannel pants (grandpa style), and a pair of boots. His hands were placed on his hips, like a superhero.
He certainly would be handsome enough to be one. Ari thought. ...Wait a minute...what?
"What are you doing up so early girlie?" The man broke through her thoughts. Ari looked up into his face, before shaking her head.
"Uh...uh..." Why was she suddenly so nervous? Usually she'd had thrown a curse storm by now if someone questioned her. If was like all her confidence had been drained out her cut. She needed to show she had some type of authority, despite her age. She looked back at the man, making her face serious.
"Well this is the Anarchy Tour ain't it? And I'm part of it, which makes me an anarchist, for your information. So that's means I can do what I please, including waking up early, so good day to you...bloke." What usually would happen if Ari told someone off, didn't this time. Now, the man didn't leave. He didn't curse her off or try to hurt her. He just stood there, staring at Ari, as of observing her and she never turned away. Never once did their eye contact break, even as the wind came again, trying to catch their attention with fluttering leaves. They rose, higher and higher, like Ari's fear. This man reacted different, and she didn't know how to feel about that.
Suddenly, he smiled. A beautiful, clean, happy smile. "Gosh...you really are a punk. I respect that." He looked almost proud. He dropped his arms, walked over and sat down right beside a terribly confused Ari. "I wasn't sure of your status yet," he continued. "In all honesty, I was afraid you were going to cry yesterday. But...you didn't. And when you didn't, I was surprised. I was thinking to myself, crap, what have I done? I just hurt a young girl. But you were alright. Later I found out from Mick you were the lead singer of Viv's group, and that you had kind of an attitude. I just became more surprised and thought to myself, I need to check this girl out. Lucky for me, I didn't need to search far." He smiled at a quiet, pale Ari.
Suddenly his smiled dropped a bit as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh, and uh...listen. I'm, I'm sorry for yesterday. I didn't realize you were in front of the bus till I was midair. I didn't mean to jump you or anything. It was all my fault. It's just...sometimes, I like sitting on the roof just to look about the world around me and think about it..."
"I THINK THE SAME THING!" Ari suddenly burst out. It caught the man off guard for a bit, but he smiled again.
"It's nice to know someone else thinks alike." He laughed. "I guess it's a frontman thing...er...front-woman?" They both laughed at his attempt.
"Anyway, I think it's only the gentleman thing to properly introduce myself." He smoothed out his shirt, and gave a frontman pose. "I am, the one, the only...
...Joe Strummer..."
He gestured a hand towards her. Ari smiled and repeated his gesture.
"You can call me...Ari Up."
YOU ARE READING
Up and Strumming
Acak(Side note, the following events aren't exactly what happened, but I tried to keep the facts straight so just bear with me, thanks!) It's the late 70's and punk is on the rise. So what better way to spread the word than a tour? More specifically, t...
